Grooming on Cape Ann
Dog grooming on Cape Ann: the studio on Eastern Ave
A Cape Ann coat lives a different year from an inland one: salt and wet sand from October, ticks from April, road salt on the hills in between. This page covers who brings dogs to the studio, what each service costs, and when a fresh-water rinse at home is all your dog needs.
Who comes in
Dogs come from all four Cape Ann towns, and some from further down the North Shore
Gloucester first. Most dogs on our tables live in the city itself, from East Gloucester and downtown, which are closest to Eastern Ave, out to Magnolia, Annisquam, Lanesville and West Gloucester along Route 127 and Route 128. For these owners a groom fits inside a morning: book online, drop off in the window that suits the day, and collect a clean dog in the next one. A groom can also sit inside a daycare day, so the dog plays first and there is only one trip.
Rockport, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea come next, and with Gloucester they are the four Pup Van towns, which changes a grooming day: book the groom into a daycare day, add the van at $10 each way, and nobody has to drive. Further down the North Shore, owners from Ipswich, Beverly, Danvers, Peabody and Salem make the trip because the studio sits inside a full daycare building; the van's flat rate does not reach them, so ask us for pricing.
Prices
A bath costs $55 to $95 and a full groom $75 to $120, depending on your dog's size
Both services are priced by weight, and the groomer confirms the final figure at check-in after looking at the coat. A bath is the warm wash, the blow-dry and the brush-out, with no haircut; an extra-large dog with a long coat is $95. Full service adds a breed-specific or custom cut, so bring a photo. Add-ons attach to either: nails $16, teeth $10, a face or sanitary trim $10, whitening or a medicated shampoo $8, Shed Release $10 and anal glands $40.
Two charges are about time rather than a menu item. De-matting is $15 for every 20 minutes spent working tangles out, and the $20 behavior or handling surcharge covers a dog who needs slower, more careful hands. Rebook at pick-up and $5 comes off the next service. Unlimited daycare members take 15 percent off grooming, and overnight guests take 15 percent on the Dogtown Deluxe bundle or 10 percent on the Classic.
| Your dog's weight | Bath only | Full service |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 25 lb | $55 | $75 |
| 26 to 50 lb | $65 | $85 |
| 51 to 90 lb | $75 | $110 |
| Over 90 lb | $85 | $120 |
The Cape Ann coat
Salt water, wet sand and ticks are what a Cape Ann coat has to recover from
The beach calendar sets the grooming calendar here. At the time of writing, Gloucester's dog rules allow off-leash dogs on Good Harbor on even-numbered days from October 1 to March 31, on Wingaersheek on odd-numbered days from October 1 to April 30, and on Plum Cove and Cressy's through the same off-season. Those are the months coats come home stiff with salt and packed with sand, and a dense coat that stays damp against the skin is where itching starts.
Ticks take over as the beaches close. Tick season here runs roughly April to November, and dogs who walk Dogtown Common and Ravenswood Park bring them in first. The brush-out is where groomers find them, because hands feel what eyes miss in a thick coat; prevention is for you and your vet, and the CDC's tick pages explain it. In winter, road salt and de-icers end up on pads, legs and belly, and the AVMA's cold-weather advice is to wipe them off after walks before your dog licks them.
- October to April: beach salt and wet sand on Gloucester's off-season beaches
- April to November: tick season, when the brush-out matters most
- Winter: road salt and de-icers on pads, legs and belly
- Spring: the undercoat lets go, the moment for Shed Release at $10
Rinse or bath
A fresh-water rinse covers most beach days; book a bath when the salt has reached the skin
After a run on Wingaersheek, most short-coated dogs need only fresh water from a jug in the car, a hard towel and an evening somewhere warm. Rinse the legs, the belly and the base of the tail, where salt and sand collect, and work your fingers between the toes. Our how-to on drying a dog after the beach covers the towel and airflow side of it, including the spots where hot spots start.
Book a bath when the rinse stops keeping up: the coat stays tacky after it dries, your dog scratches at the collar line or the tail, sand keeps falling out on the sofa, or the dog has a double coat a garden hose never reaches the bottom of. Choose full service for coats that keep growing, such as doodles and poodles, because salt and sand turn a long coat into mats, and mats are billed by the 20 minutes.
- Rinse at home: short coat, one beach run, dries soft
- Book a bath: still tacky, constant scratching, sand that will not leave
- Book full service: a doodle, poodle or any growing coat after a salty week
- Ask about de-matting: tangles behind the ears or under the legs
Grooming day
A groom runs from check-in to pick-up in one visit, with no evaluation first
Grooming is the one service at Dogtown that needs no evaluation, so a dog new to us can be booked straight away. Choose a bath or a full service online, in the Dogtown app or by phone at 978 491-5922, and drop off inside a window: weekdays 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM or 4 to 6:30 PM, and Saturdays 8 to 10 AM, 12 to 1 PM or 4 to 6 PM.
North Shore owners choose the studio for what surrounds it. It sits inside a 10,000-square-foot daycare building with certified staff, so a groom can be added to a daycare day, an Academy day or the last morning of an overnight stay, and your dog can spend the rest of the day in a matched playgroup of 7 to 10. Cats have their own quiet room away from the dogs, with our cat behavior specialists.
- 01
Book a bath or a full service online, in the Dogtown app or by phone
- 02
Drop off inside a window with your dog on a leash and a photo of the cut you want
- 03
The groomer checks the coat and confirms the final price before starting
- 04
Bath, blow-dry and brush-out, then the haircut if you booked full service
- 05
Pick up in a later window and rebook at the desk to save $5
Getting here
Route 128 brings you almost to the door, and the Pup Van covers four towns on daycare days
Route 128 ends in Gloucester a short way from 210 Eastern Ave, which makes the drive simple from Beverly, Danvers and Peabody. Essex owners come in on Route 133, Rockport owners on Route 127, and Manchester owners on Route 128 or the shore road through Magnolia. The train is no help with a dog: the MBTA's rider rules keep larger dogs off trains at peak hours.
The Pup Van is the hands-free version. It runs pick-up and drop-off for $10 each way in the four Cape Ann towns, attached to a daycare day, a Dogtown Academy day or an overnight stay. Put the groom inside that booking and the van brings your dog home clean. Daycare needs the free evaluation first, on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM; for a groom with no daycare day around it, ask the front desk.
At Dogtown
The studio and the day around it
Book the groom on its own, or inside a daycare day with the Pup Van doing the driving.
Pick-up & drop-off
The Pup Van comes to you.
Pup Van pick-up and drop-off is available for $10 each way in the Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea area. Not in the area? Ask us for pricing.
- Rockport
- Gloucester
- Essex
- Manchester-by-the-Sea
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Do I need an evaluation before my dog's first groom?
Can the Pup Van bring my dog to a groom from Rockport?
How often should a dog who swims on Cape Ann beaches be bathed?
What does de-matting cost after a winter of beach days?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
Book a groom on Eastern Ave.
Pick a bath or a full service online or in the Dogtown app, with no evaluation needed. Put it inside a daycare day and the Pup Van can do the driving in four Cape Ann towns.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
